ABSTRACT
The great majority of international human rights instruments, although clearly recognizing the right to life, are silent on the issue of whether or not some or all of the protections accorded under the relevant provisions should also be accorded to the unborn child. This was also the case with respect to the draft Convention on the Rights of the Child 1 during the final session of the Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights which was primarily responsible for drafting the text of the Convention. 2 The abortion issue was raised very directly at the session in which the draft was given its second 544and final reading before being sent on to the General Assembly 3 for possible adoption in fall 1989. After protracted public debate and intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations, it was agreed not to deal with the matter in the operative part of the Convention but rather to include the following provision in the sixth preambular paragraph:
Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1959, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” 4
